A coalition of community bankers and other community business leaders gathered last week to announce the formation of a new microloan program aimed at bolstering emerging and existing small businesses throughout the MetroWest region.
The South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC) touted its SMOC Financial Services program as the first micro enterprise of its kind in the region, aiming to reach underserved entrepreneurs in Ashland, Bellingham, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Marlboro, Natick, Northbridge, Southbridge and Wayland.
“We want to penetrate the neighborhoods where businesses are already starting or haven’t started. … We’re going to provide them with access to capital, bridge that gap, [if] they’re not ready for a bank loan,” SMOC COO Charles Gagnon said during a press conference announcing the program.
In addition to capital, SMOC would also be providing those small businesses with technical assistance and business planning, he said. Gagnon said the program should help create wealth, new jobs and self-sufficiency and ultimately help revitalize downtown Framingham.
In his remarks at the press conference, Middlesex Savings Bank President Michael McAuliffe emphasized the bank’s long relationship with SMOC.
“Over the years, we’ve financed a number of their initiatives, [including] residential developments, and share a deep commitment and mission to serving all the communities in which we operate. It really has become a relationship of mutual trust. It’s gone beyond a banker-customer relationship,” he said. “We’re confident that this program will be just another branch of a robust tree of services that SMOC provides.”
Middlesex Savings Bank is one of six community banks that have committed funds to the program. Commerce Bank, Country Bank for Savings, Mutual One Bank, Needham Bank and Southbridge Savings Bank have also invested in SMOC Financial Services.
Middlesex has pledged $250,000 to the program, and Mass Growth Capital Corp. pledged $65,000 to SMOC from its own Small Business Technical Assistance Grant program.
“Small business is really a very important, critical part of any community. The big companies might get all the headlines, but small business is really the backbone of any community and really, the economy in terms of the number of people employed in small businesses,” McAuliffe said.
Other community organizations involved in the program include: Brazil New England Chamber of Commerce, Framingham Downtown Renaissance, Framingham State University, MASS Bay Community College, MetroWest Chamber of Commerce, MetroWest Legal Services and the town of Framingham.
SMOC also said that Gov. Charlie Baker pledged a $125,000 Urban Agenda Economic Development grant to help jumpstart the microloan program.
Fernando Castro, the owner of Income Tax Plus in Framingham and a sometimes volunteer for SMOC, praised the new initiative.
“I’ve seen a lot of good ideas flourish. People who come in with small ideas today end up with successful small businesses,” he said. “But I’ve seen some great, great ideas die because those people could not afford and could not have access to capital.”
